Finding Time
How can we utilise learning theories? For me the key to understanding new theories is the application of that theory, just looking at it in a vacuum will leave me feeling unsatisfied. Therefore, I started to consider them in the context of my school. Siemens writes that:
“New information is continually being acquired. The ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital.”
My school is currently embarking on a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) roll out and the introduction of the ISTE standards. Next year every student, at the high school, will be bring their own device into school and my role as a Facilitator will be to ensure that both students and staff can evaluate and create information successfully.The first topic on the agenda for both will be the evaluation of information. I firstly will be working with staff with the aim to be made redundant … well maybe not quite redundant…. but if the staff sessions are successful every lesson will be driven by a constant evaluation of information and information sources.I know that students at my school are already taught to question, as there is a massive emphasis on this in the IB program. Hopefully this questioning will develop and allow students to not only question ideas and text but also website validity and bias, images and image manipulation and develop film deconstruction skills.This is not to say that they do not already do this. Pupils in Grade 10 have both Technology and English units on the language of film, which allows them to study filmed media in depth; looking at how the choice of location, music, camera angle all helps in developing “the world” that the film wishes to portray. Pupils in Humanities, across the grades, are required to analysis sources and establish their reliability.However, there is the age-old problem of getting students to transfer these skills from subject to subject. It still amazes me that pupils will learn a skill in one subject and will not be able to transfer that knowledge to another. Therefore, I see it as essential that we are teachers of these skills if we wish pupils to be effective and active members of Siemens “cycle of knowledge development”
To be an active member of this cycle would require the creation of information, which has been placed as the highest level of learning in the new Blooms pyramid, and here is where I find the hardest challenge. Siemens writes that:
“The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today.”
There has been been some inspirational use of creation tools at my school with teachers using stop motion animation to develop geography understanding, DNA videos, Explain Everything topic summaries, blogging, website development ...the list is endless. With a BYOD Environment it will be possible to place more emphasis on creation, as teachers and students have constant access to technology. Creation does not need to be a massive thing as they could be creating networks through tweets, blogs, the creation of their own website.Yet, the pressure of content is still there and success is still measured in formal examinations. Creation of a product often takes more time than the more direct note taking and no more extra time is allocated in the curriculum to do this. Most examinable course have more content to deliver than time allocated. Time, Time, Time...it will all boil down to time.[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWWiDKKWDQw[/youtube]With an examination system that still requires a written response to set questions then I can see why some of my colleagues may be reluctant to be “creative” with their examination classes. Where do we find the time?Siemens. G (Dec 2004) Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved from https://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htmChurches. A (Apr 2009) Blooms Digital Taxonomy Retrieved from https://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+Digital+TaxonomyHitchhikers Guide - The world is about to end Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWWiDKKWDQw